


The Eye of the World: Another Turning

by primeideal



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Book 01: The Eye of the World, Extra Treat, Format: Meta speculation, Gen, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: Wheel of Time, but everyone is genderswapped. A disaster in the making? Probably!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2
Collections: Unconventional Fanwork Exchange 2020





	The Eye of the World: Another Turning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonGoddex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonGoddex/gifts).



Most of the time I’m not really intrigued by Rule 63 (genderswap) headcanons; I think most of my fandoms have settings where characters would have taken relatively similar paths even if they were men instead of women, or vice versa. But then I thought about Wheel of Time, and I kind of nerd-sniped myself. So, without further ado, a very speculative look at what might take place in “The Eye of the World” if the present-day characters in The Wheel of Time were genderswapped. (The Forsaken and characters from the Second Age don’t change.) For the sake of my own sanity, all the characters have the same names as their original counterparts, although this probably wouldn’t actually have happened.

In the Third Age, where our story is set, a small percentage of the population have the ability to channel the One Power, a source of powerful magic. This power is known as _saidar_ when used by women, and _saidin_ when used by men. Women throughout the world have formed many organizations to use this power; the best-known are the Aes Sedai, a mysterious sorority centered at the White Tower school of magic. Unfortunately, due to a curse from the forces of evil, men who use _saidin_ will inevitably go insane and die. To make matters worse, prophecy states that the “Dragon Reborn” who will fight and hopefully defeat evil at the end of the age, will be a man who channels, so his rebirth is awaited more with fear than hope.

The story begins when **Lan Mandragoran** , a magical Aes Sedai, and her Warder **Moiraine Damodred** , a warrior sworn to protect her, show up in Emond’s Field looking for the Chosen One. Lan is technically the heir to the throne of the fallen nation of Malkier, and she has thrown herself into seeking the Dragon Reborn as a way to channel her death-wish energy into saving the world. Moiraine is an aristocrat from the royal family of Cairhien, but is sick and tired of all the “Game of Houses” plotting they get into, and prefers more direct conflicts he can solve with a sword. (Although like many Cairhienin, he has a bit of a Napoleon complex about his height.)

Lan and Moiraine realize that **Nynaeve al’Meara** , a talented tracker and woodsman, is very likely to be the Dragon Reborn—he’s the only man of the appropriate age. The village expects that Nynaeve will marry young farmgirl **Rand al’Thor** when they’re both older, but Rand prefers getting into mischief with her friends. When Trollocs attack the Two Rivers, Nynaeve is terrified and tries his best to treat the wounded; he is skeptical of Lan and Moiraine’s claims that the monsters were trying to kill or abduct him specifically, but eventually acquiesces to their insistence that he needs to come with them to protect his neighbors.

Traveling performer **Thom Merrilin** decides to skip town the next day—she just wanted a safe place to make some coin and is not very happy about being in the path of the Trollocs. Rand, along with her friends **Mat Cauthon** and **Perrin Aybara** , volunteer to accompany her to the other Two Rivers villages, both to see a little of the world and, hopefully, make sure that Nynaeve is okay. Despite her urbane, cooler-than-you exterior, Thom takes a liking to the farmgirls and gives them juggling/fiddling lessons. Perrin, although not an expert tracker, finds her senses heightened and is able to perceive the tracks made by the other party even at a distance. When they meet up in Baerlon,Thom and Moiraine are more wary of/tentative around each other than their canon counterparts. Thom is somewhat of a persona non grata in the capital of Caemlyn since her affair with the former king consort, so they’re both touchy and suspicious of “so what’s your angle, hmm” but there’s a level of trust and respect beneath all the politicking.

Also in Baerlon, the band meet **Min Farshaw** , a man who has seen Lan and Moiraine passing through on a couple other occasions; they suspect Min is up to something. In fact, Min can see visions, but incorrectly assumes this is linked to _saidin_ , which is fatal for men, and hasn’t told anyone about them. He has developed somewhat of a fatalistic streak because of this, and the fact that he can’t see visions of his own future, and lives somewhat of a dissolute life drinking and gambling. Mat sees this and is like “whoa, these big city guys are sexy in a bad-boy way!”

Lan, much to her dismay, realizes that Rand has the spark and will probably be a very strong channeller. This is bad news because 1. she doesn’t want any more innocent farmgirls dragged into the apocalyptic struggle, 2. once Nynaeve and Rand realize their destinies are very different than having a farm and a bunch of kids together, what if Nynaeve gets in a bad mood and refuses the call, 3. Lan herself should not be having feelings of attraction to Nynaeve, they both are probably going to die heroically to save the world, this is very bad.

When they get separated, let’s say the groups split up differently than canon so the characters have reason to recombine; Thom winds up with Nynaeve, Moiraine with Perrin and Rand, and Lan with Mat. Lan is furious with Mat for having stolen a cursed piece of jewelry from Shadar Logoth, but is able to heal her and keep her stabilized while they wait to find a larger group of Aes Sedai to completely lift the curse. Moiraine tries to mentor and support Rand, telling her what he knows about the One Power, but is freaked out by Perrin’s developing ability to speak with wolves and fruitlessly tries to explain it in terms of _saidar_. They run across **Elyas Machera** , a woman who has come to terms with her own wolflike abilities, but women who have run off and talk to wolves probably get even more blowback than men, and Elyas is very rustic and scary-looking. Perrin is terrified that she’ll wind up the same way, but there isn’t anything they can do about it. Thom makes lots of coin performing in small villages along the way to Caemlyn, but gets badly wounded by an assassin of the Shadow. Despite Thom’s protestations, Nynaeve refuses to leave her behind, and winds up miraculously healing her much faster than mere herbs should have been able to do.

They all reconvene in Caemlyn; Mat, despite Lan keeping a very close eye on him, somehow manages to have an escapade in the royal palace. However, she is very unimpressed by the goody-goody Princess **Galad** , home from studying at the White Tower where she is a talented potential channeller as well as a dutiful princess. Princess **Gawyn** is surly and tends to resent her sister’s position in line to the throne, while Prince **Elayne** is prone to goofing off but good with a sword. (I...haven’t actually considered how the recent dynastic feuds played out if Andor is still a matriarchy. I will say that the whole Tigraine/Shaiel plotline can be dropped without much loss; Nynaeve was actually an Aiel orphan whose father brought him home to the Two Rivers, but there doesn’t need to be a connection to the Andor royalty, that doesn’t add that much.)

Anyway, the main relationship over the course of the series will be Nynaeve, the stubborn Dragon who thinks anything should be healable, and Lan, the broody Aes Sedai who’s just like “I must, because destiny,” they’re both clearly into each other by the end of the first book but need to start believing in free will in order to let themselves reciprocate each other’s love. This is just book one, but future interactions will probably include contrasts between Rand and Galad as students at the White Tower—Galad the prim and proper rule-follower, and Rand more prone to going with her gut and causing chaos. Also, Min and Perrin might appreciate having someone else with forgotten/scary powers to befriend. Thom and Moiraine also get together, not because prophecy said they had to but because they’re the only ones who can stand each other’s secret plotting.


End file.
